All of this came about due to the efforts of a Find a Grave volunteer. Thanks to the continuing efforts of this dedicated volunteer, who originally transcribed Elizabeth's tombstone, she was able to determine which of her relatives Elisabeth was most likely buried near. With that information in hand, husband and I made a trip to Calvary Cemetery while in Southern California for another softball tournament last month. I'm happy to report we found Elizabeth's headstone. I'm even happier to report that it only took us a few minutes!

As luck would have it, Elizabeth was buried in the same section of the cemetery as her daughter, Marie Lieber. We spent quite a bit of time in the rain last fall looking for Marie unsuccessfully, so we knew where not to look for Elizabeth. As it turns out, we came within 50 or 60 feet of Elizabeth's gravesite on that rainy day last fall.

I am happy to finally be able to honor my great-great-grandmother, Elizabeth Georger, and will be eternally grateful to the Find a Grave volunteer who originally transcribed and posted her stone.

Unfortunately, there's still the little issue of what year Elizabeth died, 1891 or 1892, and more importantly what caused her death at such a young age.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Since I tend to write my posts in series, I already use this technique to refer readers back to previous posts in the series.

My post for tomorrow, The Rest of My Find A Grave Story, is one that I wrote last week and it fulfils all three of the techniques Tonia recommends as ways to add links to your old posts:

In post links - This is one that many of us do all the time. Myself included.

Updates - That's just what The Rest of My Find A Grave Story is.

Further Reading - I'll admit I debated on this one but I went ahead and included links at the end of the article to the previous posts on my little adventure. I wasn't sure if that was a good way or not. Tonia says, "Darren suggests that adding manually-chosen links can be more relevant for the reader." Whew.

Tonia also gives us an extra action item as a way to prepare us for things to come. I can't wait!

Friday, August 19, 2011

This week's assignment from Week 7 of 31 Weeks to a Better Genealogy Blog over at Tonia's Roots is to write a post linking out to another blog or blogs. Since I'm behind, in that I didn't do last week's assignment, I thought I'd use the Week 6 topic (learning from successful bloggers) assignment to "jot down 3-5 key points" that you want to apply to your blog (with some adjustments) and then link out to fullfil this week's assignment. I'm finding I need to be creative to do all I want to do and keep the plate from overflowing at the same time. So here goes.

I learned several things from other bloggers that I am interested in applying to my blog. I hope they help you in your blogging.

In his article, The Commonsense Time-saver We All Missed, Stephen Guise discusses setting up a toolbar folder containing commonly used links you use in writing your blog posts. It will save you time and allow you to remain focused when composing your articles. To this I suggest including (or setting up a separate document that you open whenever writing a post):

Finally, Cheryl's Heritage Happens post on the Week 6 assignment had a tip that grabbed my attention. Cheryl writes, "Under How To Write An Article 20 Minutes, I was intrigued by the statement that said not to hold those best ideas until later, write it now." It made me realize that I've lost some really great posts (or at least some of the pizzaz) because I didn't do it right away when the inspiration was fresh. The article has some other excellent points; I'm all about saving time these days.

I hope these points and the related articles help you in your blogging.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

One of the last things we found tucked away in the Family Home was our childhood rocking horse. I can vividly remember sitting in this cute horse rocking away, my little feet on the foot board and my little hands on the bar looking out to where ever I imagined my rocking horse taking me. It's rather strange now for I can only stand on the outside of our rocking horse, look in and remember. My feet are so big I can't even fit one foot in the rocking horse now.

Our rocking horse has a spot now where the next generation of children can occassionally hop in for a ride.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

This is the last document in William Ballenger's Cash Entry Land File. If you would like to catch up on the first 8 posts, you can scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of the prior articles.

What I learned:

Apparently William didn't already own 320 acres and had the right to claim pre-emption on this property.

Item of note: The register, when filling out the form, spelled William's last name with an i (Ballinger). When William signed the form himself, he spelled Ballenger with an e. (The inconsistency of the spelling of Ballenger/Ballinger is nothing new. I just try to stay on my toes!)

Next Up: A summary and the rest of the story.

The transcription is below and an image of the original is below that.

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF PRE-EMPTION CLAIMANT

I, William H. Ballinger, claiming the right of pre-emption under

the provisions of the act of Congress, entitled "An act to appropriate the proceeds of the

sale of the public lands, and to grant pre-emption rights" approved September 4, 1841, to

Thursday, August 11, 2011

It's time to get back to William Ballinger's Cash Entry (preemption) land file. We have a couple more documents to look at. If you would like to catch up on the first 7 posts, you can scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of the prior articles.

This document is a statement by a Calvin W. Ward stating he knows William and that he built a home on the property and has been residing on it. The transcription is immediately below my comments in italics and an image of the document is at the bottom.

What did I learn from this document?

William settled this property 5 December 1864.

The house he built (15 X 20 feet) is approximately the size of two horse stalls.

Questions

Who is Calvin Ward and what sort of relationship does he have to William Ballinger? Calvin is now on my Persons of Interest List relative to William Ballinger.